The big story

After a historically bad season, things can only get better for the Bobcats.

They went 7-59 during the 2011-12 season, a winning percentage of .106, the worst in NBA history. To put that into perspective, the team with the next-fewest wins last season—the Wizards—had 20, nearly three times as many as Charlotte.

Also, not only was the Bobcats’ scoring average of 87.0 points per game the lowest in the NBA, it was the lowest team total since the Raptors’ 85.4 back in 2003-04. The Bobcats shot a paltry 41.4 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from 3-point range, both league lows. And things weren’t much better on the other end of the floor, where the Bobcats ranked 27th in scoring defense (100.9 points per game allowed) and 29th in opponents’ shooting percentage (47.5).

Charlotte was not only the worst team in the NBA—it was the worst team by monumental margins.

This offseason, however, welcomed two major organizational shifts, one the team hopes will pay short-term dividends, the other a longer-range proposition.

In a move no one saw coming, the Bobcats hired Mike Dunlap to replace Paul Silas as coach. They insisted Dunlap, an assistant under Steve Lavin at St. John’s, was the only person on their list.

Dunlap’s ability to develop young players, coupled with his tireless work ethic, impressed owner Michael Jordan, G.M. Rich Cho and president of basketball operations Rod Higgins.

Jordan, meanwhile, is reportedly stepping away from basketball operations and handing more decision-making autonomy over to Cho. Jordan’s hope is to model his small-market club after the Thunder, the organization with which Cho cut his teeth.

Roster wise, the team should be improved, if only marginally. The Bobcats traded for shooting guard Ben Gordon—who the Bobcats believe can boost their moribund offense—claimed center Brendan Haywood off waivers, signed point guard Ramon Sessions and used the No. 2 overall pick in the draft to select Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. It’s not a group laden with All-Stars and it’s nearly impossible to envision this squad reaching the postseason, but the Bobcats should be in a position to at least take a small step forward this season.

Keep an eye on …

Dunlap says the competition is wide-open for most of the starting spots, and Kemba Walker will battle with Sessions, a journeyman now on his fifth NBA team, for the point guard position.

Walker’s rookie season, in which he averaged 12.1 points while shooting 36.6 percent from the field and 30.5 percent from beyond the arc, is not what the Bobcats envisioned when they drafted him No. 9 overall in 2011, a few months after he had carried the UConn Huskies to a national championship. He did demonstrate an ability to score, but his size (he’s generously listed as 6-1) makes him a liability on the defensive end. The team believes, however, his quickness creates matchup problems on offense.

Strategy session

One way to increase offensive production is to play at a quicker pace. Immediately upon being hired, Dunlap promised to implement an uptempo style of play—which means his players better be in good condition.

So far, the rookie head coach has delivered on that promise, putting his players through four-hour practices in the preseason.

Another of the many challenges Dunlap faces arises from the fact that his two most proven scorers—Gordon and Gerald Henderson—play the same position. Henderson averaged 15.1 points per game last season, by far a career best, and Gordon, while his offensive production has dipped in recent seasons, has scored at a 16.5 points-per-game clip over his eight seasons in the league.

Dunlap will use a small lineup when he wants these two natural shooting guards on the floor together. Kidd-Gilchrist will slide to small forward to power forward in those situations, with only one true big man—Bismack Biyombo or Byron Mullens—on the court.

Outside view (from an Eastern Conference scout): “It’s a start, and considering where they were last year, then OK, you have to start somewhere. But they’re still going to be a pretty bad team, in my opinion. The coach is an unknown, they are very weak at point guard—they will have some very young guys out there—but they will have some depth, and if you are bringing Ben Gordon and Brendan Haywood off the bench, that is ahead of where they were last year. A lot of this year will be judged on how Michael Kidd-Gilchrist does, especially if you compare him to Thomas Robinson, who is the guy most people thought they should (have drafted). I am not sure they did not make a mistake on that one.”

Inside view (from shooting guard Gerald Henderson): “I think our expectations aren’t as much on numbers or wins or things you can see. I think it’s more our mindset toward the game, more of our attitude and how we go about things as a team. Coming off a bad season like we did, we never know what’s going to happen with our team. But if we’re no good this year, it won’t be because we’re not working hard. It’s not going to be because we have bad attitudes or aren’t trying to do the right things. Those are the things that we’re going to focus on first.”

Our view: The Bobcats will take a step forward this season, but they’ll remain entrenched at the bottom of the league standings. Perhaps they won’t be the NBA’s worst team again, but they’ll be close, and Bobcats fans will hope for better luck at the draft lottery next May.

The best this organization can hope for is something to hang its hat on for seasons to come. Maybe Kidd-Gilchrist will show signs that he’s a Scottie Pippen in the making. Perhaps Walker will start evolving into an Allen Iverson-type player. Or Biyombo will develop into an inside defensive force, a la Dikembe Mutombo. Probably not. But certainly things will be better than they were last season.